


Portraits of Distress

by TheAsexualofSpades



Series: Quarantine Drabbles [20]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans, MJ sketching people in distress, Natasha and MJ are salt buds, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-04-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:42:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23631790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAsexualofSpades/pseuds/TheAsexualofSpades
Summary: MJ likes drawing people in distress. Natasha is very good at taking photos of people at the worst possible times.They're a fantastic team.
Relationships: Michelle Jones & Natasha Romanov, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones/Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Natasha Romanov
Series: Quarantine Drabbles [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1677655
Comments: 13
Kudos: 348





	Portraits of Distress

**Author's Note:**

> MJ deserves to be adopted by Spy-der momma too okay.
> 
> I don't super have the dynamic of these two down yet but gimme a minute here.

Fandom: Marvel (MCU)

Prompt: I now kinda want to see Natasha and MJ hanging out

* * *

MJ’s phone buzzes.

_Scary Spider Lady: Hey you wanna draw Tony Stark in distress?_

Fuck kinda question is that?

_Me: ofc_

_Scary Spider Lady: irondadisscared.jpg_

MJ glances around to make sure no one’s paying attention and opens the attachment. She stifles a laugh.

Peter is on the ceiling, bent around himself like a contortionist clutching a Capri-Sun. Below him is Tony Stark looking every bit like a man who has seen the Devil crack open the earth and the apocalypse is nigh.

_Me: perfect_

MJ fetches her sketchbook and lays the phone on the desk. Really, the way the man’s face manages to capture both existential terror and total exasperation is fantastic. Truly the Mona Lisa of the modern era.

She sweeps away the last few eraser marks and examines her picture. Sure, the nose is a little too lopsided and she’s pretty sure there isn’t supposed to be a cheekbone floating in the middle of nowhere but you know it’s fine.

_Me: hesbeautyhesgracelookathisfuckingface.jpg_

_Scary Spider Lady: That is his new contact photo :)_

MJ snorts. She can work with this. She slides her sketchbook back into her backpack and tunes back into class just in time to join a lively debate about the fact that the American Health Care System isn’t broken, it’s working exactly as designed, it was never designed to benefit patients.

The next day in Spanish she gets another one.

_Scary Spider Lady: theycallhimthewintersoldier.jpg_

The photo is of James Barnes who has very obviously been startled by the sudden appearance of Hawkeye out of the vents. Barton isn’t more than a blur in the frame but the indignation of being so robbed of his dignity is, well, picturesque.

_Me: do you and hawkeye team up to scare the shit out of the others_

_Scary Spider Lady: Does this surprise you?_

_Me: no_

Instead of conjugating irregular verbs, MJ focuses on capturing the maniac strands of Barnes’ hair flying all over her page. She leans back a bit and squints. The man looks a tad like a pissed off kitten but honestly, it’s better than looking like a dying frog.

_Me: givehimbackthecatnip.jpg_

_Scary Spider Lady: I can and will frame this masterpiece._

MJ’s smile falters. This is Natasha Romanov; MJ has no illusions of trying to figure out exactly what she means. But still, having someone praise her artwork is…a new sensation.

_Me: thanks_

_Scary Spider Lady: Just keep ‘em coming._

_Me: i await your next photo_

_Scary Spider Lady: All in good time._

MJ scribbles down the rules about when to use ‘ser’ and ‘estar’ and smirks. She’s happy to be part of an alliance to capture moments of distress.

_Scary Spider Lady: Of course you could also come to the Tower to sketch them in person._

MJ’s pencil freezes.

_Me: wait really_

_Scary Spider Lady: Sure. Tell Peter to bring you next time he comes over._

MJ glances over at Peter buried in his work a few desks over. As if able to sense her gaze he looks up, right at her. Shit.

Peter blinks, obviously not expecting her to be looking. She doesn’t know what to expect. Then he smiles, really quick, and looks back down at his work.

_Me: yeah ok_

“Parker!”

Peter stops outside the gates. “Oh, hey MJ!”

“Where’re you going?”

“Uh,” Peter points away from the school like it offers any sense of clarification, “Stark internship.”

“Cool. I’m coming with you.”

“Wait, what?” Peter hustles to keep up with her as they turn the corner. “Wait, MJ, I don’t—I mean I want you to come but I don’t know if—“

“Your friend said I could.”

“Who?”

“The scary one.”

Peter stops, frowning, shuffling his backpack onto his shoulders. “Natasha?”

“Yup.”

“Oh.” Peter fidgets, looking down at his feet. “Cool.”

“Can we go now?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah, yeah, let’s go.” Peter trots on ahead. MJ watches him go.

It’s funny, right. Peter’s a fucking genius and has no problem telling people off when they need to be told off and yet he’s bouncing around like…well, like Peter.

“MJ?”

Shit, she’s been staring.

“Coming.”

MJ’s not too proud to admit that she’s still a little spellbound by the majesty of Stark Tower. She follows Peter who slows a little on their way through the lobby.

“It’s pretty cool, right?”

“Hella.”

“Yeah. Uh, we can go over here—“

“Peter!”

They turn around to see Widow standing in the lobby. Peter smiles, altering his course to stop just in front of her.

“Hey, Natasha.”

“Come on you two,” Widow says, hooking an arm through each of theirs, “we’ve got work to do.”

“Work? Wait what’s happening?”

“MJ knows.”

“She does.”

“Shhh, Parker,” MJ says, exchanging a smirk with Widow. “All in good time.”

Peter grumbles all the way to the lab, disengaging and going straight to one of the many holographic screens. Widow snickers.

“Grumpy boy.”

“He’s a teenager,” MJ remarks, “it’s to be expected.”

“You’re only two months older than me.”

“And what a difference it made.”

“Hey!”

Widow snickers and ruffles Peter’s hair, bending down to whisper something in his ear. Whatever it is, it makes Peter relax a little bit, a small smile coming over his face. Widow leaves him to his tinkering and comes back to MJ, wrapping her arm around MJ’s shoulders and escorting her to a bigger room.

“Now, I’ve invited you here to be the official artist of the Avengers Mario Kart tournament.” Widow sits her down in a chair near the outskirts of the room, right next to a table piled high with popcorn. “They’ll be here in a minute.”

“Are we just gonna be watching?”

“ _I_ am going to be watching and occasionally throwing popcorn.” Widow nudges her shoulder. _“You_ are going to have some truly fantastic expressions to draw.”

It’s a goddamn _fiasco._

Steve wins by a landslide. Thor chucks a full pack of pop tarts at him in congratulations. Barton whines like a toddler. Stark falls off the couch screaming. At some point, popcorn ends up on the ceiling. Widow shields her from most of the flying objects and she focuses on capturing the vein popping out of Barton’s forehead.

When they’ve all stopped screaming she leans over to show Widow her progress.

“Mm. Yes. Good.” Widow snorts and points at the rendering she’s particularly proud of. It’s Steve looking annoying self-righteous as Stark bellows in his ear. “This is the pinnacle of genius.”

“Thank you, thank you.”

Everyone looks towards the elevator, depositing Peter into the midst of the chaos. He takes one look around the room. He looks at MJ. She shrugs. He nods and heads right back out.

Widow slings an arm around her shoulders. “We gotta do this more often.”

MJ looks up at the older woman. Widow frowns a little then shifts so MJ can see her face more clearly.

“…cool.”

“Cool,” Widow echoes, smiling. MJ smiles back.

Then Widow _smirks._ “Maybe we can talk a little more about your crush on Peter too, hmm?”

_What if we don’t do that, that’s also an option._

Distantly she hears the sound of a camera shutter and her phone buzzes in her lap.

_Scary Spider Lady: nomomidonthaveacrushleavemealone.jpg_

Shit.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Come yell at me on tumblr while we're all in quarantine. 
> 
> https://a-small-batch-of-dragons.tumblr.com/


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